GIS Day 2003 celebrates five years of GIS learning and discovery

A community in Canada, six South African Boy Scout troops, 140 high school geography students and teachers in Chile, New York Governor George Pataki, and 700 fifth graders in California had many things in common in November 2002. They all celebrated GIS Day 2002, by joining thousands of individuals and organizations in educating their local communities, businesses, schools, and neighbors about the power of geographic information system (GIS) technology. By participating in a variety of activities, including open houses, educational seminars, hands-on workshops, geography quiz games, interactive online forums and more. Individuals and organizations showed their communities how important GIS technology is in analyzing information, making important decisions, and ultimately sustaining our planet.

As the fifth anniversary of GIS Day approaches, we invite you to create your own GIS Day event on November 19, 2003, by joining the worldwide celebration and becoming part of this annual tradition. Held as part of the National Geographic Society’s Geography Awareness Week and Geography Action initiative, GIS Day is an international grassroots event designed to promote geographic literacy in schools, communities, and organizations. During last year’s GIS Day, children and adults in more than 90 countries and in all 50 U.S. states participated in a variety of activities promoting GIS learning and discovery. As the implementation of GIS technology stretches its influence, it is imperative that the public learns how GIS can be utilized for increased efficiency and effectiveness in their communities. Involvement in GIS Day is the perfect way to help build this necessary awareness.

GIS Day is principally sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, the United States Geological Survey, the Library of Congress, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and ESRI.